In recent years, a whole range of sports have seen some of the biggest and most popular stars in the world invest in teams within them.
The most notable of those have come in the world of soccer. From Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney taking over Welsh club Wrexham to Tom Brady's minority investment in Birmingham City, it's becoming more common to see celebrities invest their money into teams within the sporting world.
In the last year or so, that wave of investment has seen several F1 teams benefit.
In particular, French constructor Alpine has had a number of the world's biggest sports stars become new strategic investors.
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Who owns Alpine F1 racing team?
With a long and illustrious history in the sport that dates back to 1981, Alpine's parent company Renault has received significant investment over the past year.
Racing under several different names during their F1 tenure, Renault remains the owner of the racing team which was rebranded in 2021 to promote the company's sports car brand, Alpine.
Little is definitively known about who owns the Alpine F1 racing team on the whole but what is known is that back in June 2023, 24 per cent of the team's shares were sold to an investment group including Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments.
RedBird's portfolio includes a large stake in Fenway Sports Group – a group that currently owns Boston Red Sox and Liverpool FC – while it also holds a stake in both AC Milan and Toulouse. Meanwhile, Maximum Effort Investments is led by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
At the time of that early round of investment, Renault said that its Alpine F1 team would "benefit from the investor group’s collective expertise and track record in the sports industry including media, sponsorship, ticketing, hospitality, commercial rights management, licensing, and merchandising strategies to unlock incremental value creation and new growth levers."
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Which celebrities have invested in F1?
Due to its growing popularity both worldwide and in the US in particular over recent years, Formula 1 has become the sport to invest in.
Actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan were part of Alpine's first wave of investment on behalf of Otro Capital back in June, who now own 24 per cent of the team. They've since been joined by some high-profile sports stars in mid-October of 2023.
List of notable Alpine investors
- Ryan Reynolds - Canadian and American actor, producer and businessman
- Rob McElhenney - American actor, writer, producer, podcaster and businessman
- Michael B. Jordan - American actor and businessman
- Rory McIlroy - Four-time golf major winner
- Patrick Mahomes - 3x NFL Super Bowl champion
- Travis Kelce - 3x NFL Super Bowl champion
- Anthony Joshua - Two-time former unified world heavyweight champion
- Trent Alexander-Arnold - Champions League and Premier League winner with Liverpool
- Juan Mata - 2010 World Cup winner with Spain and former Chelsea and Manchester United star
- Alexander Zverev - Former world No. 2 tennis star
The athletes involved are likely to play a part with the team in terms of driving commercial strategies at Alpine using their own experience from their sport, as well as appearing at races.
How much money have celebrities invested in Alpine?
It's difficult to know exactly how much money each of the above sports stars has invested in Alpine during the latest round of investment.
Back in June 2023, Otro Capital — the company that the stars are now partnered with — announced a €200 million (£173m) strategic investment in Alpine Racing Ltd. They have since announced in the last week that the above stars have joined the group.
Otro Capital's original €200 million investment saw them acquire 24 per cent of the Formula 1 team. Reynolds, McElhenney and Jordan were part of that investment with their company Maximum Effort Investments sad to be in control of one-tenth of that stake.
Are Alpine F1 team good? Recent season performances
After a lacklustre 2023 season, the latest round of investment from some household names came as good news for French team Alpine.
However, it hasn't translated to positive on-track results so far in 2024.
Alpine are currently one of three teams to have yet to score a point, meaning both of their drivers – Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly – have finished outside of the top 10 in every race.
Ocon and Gasly are undoubtedly talented drivers, so much of the team's poor performance can be put down to the car itself.
Given their link with Renault, the team holds a long and illustrious history in F1, starting all the way back in 1981.
Competing under different names throughout, they secured their first bout of success under Benetton when they won the 1995 Constructors' Championship, whilst Michael Schumacher won two Drivers' Championships in 1994 and 1995 as their driver.
More titles followed in the mid-2000s, this time under Renault, as the team won the Constructors' Championship in 2005 and 2006 with Fernando Alonso winning the drivers' titles in the same seasons.
Alonso returned in 2021 as Alpine were announced as Renault's team's new name going forward to promote the brand. It's not fully known how long Alpine will be used as the team's name but it is said to be a 'long-term deal'.
Alpine F1 team results in Formula 1
| Season | Overall points | Constructor's finish | Podiums | Wins |
| 2021 | 155 | 5th | 2 | 1 |
| 2022 | 173 | 4th | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 120 | 6th | 2 | 0 |
